SAT words - D
| Dearth - n. scarcity | |
| syn. lack, paucity | |
| ant. abundance | |
| The dearth of brain surgeons guarantees that they get a really big salary. | |
| Debonair - adj. charming | |
| syn. roger-like, casual | |
| ant. coarse, crude | |
| Despite his average looks, his debonair attitude has all the girls falling for him. | |
| Decry - v. to condemn openly | |
| syn. belittle, censure | |
| ant. praise, laud | |
| According to the communist government, the little boy who dared to decry the nation's health care plan was sent to a "safe location for re-education." | |
| Defer - v. to yield to someone of greater authority | |
| syn. put off, delay | |
| ant. expedite, forge ahead | |
| When on the road, it's usually a good idea to defer to trucks so they don't run you over. | |
| Deft - adj. skillful | |
| syn. adept, handy | |
| ant. bumbling, inept | |
| Her deft ability at fixing engines came in handy when her car broke down. | |
| Deleterious - adj. causing harm or injury | |
| syn. pernicious, deadly, injurious | |
| ant. helpful, healing | |
| Symptoms of this deleterious disease include: painful rashes, diarrhea, muscular dystrophy, and death within 24 hours. | |
| Delineate - v. to portray accurately | |
| syn. outline, describe | |
| ant. cloud, confuse | |
| We hope that our presidents are delineated well in their own autobiographies. | |
| Delinquent - adj. overdue in payment | |
| syn. tardy, procrastinating | |
| ant. prompt, on time | |
| That late and delinquent roommate forgot to turn in the rent on time again. | |
| Deluge - n. weather condition with a lot of water | |
| syn. flood, drencher | |
| ant. drought, abatement | |
| The large deluge resulting from higher water levels nearly washed away the entire beach. | |
| Demagogue - n. false leader who tells people what they want to hear | |
| syn. fake, liar | |
| ant. fair leader | |
| The book of Revelations says that a demagogue, or fake prophet, will lead us astray w/ lies. | |
| Demarcate- v. to determine the boundary | |
| syn. define, delimit | |
| ant. permit, unrestrict | |
| Because the boundary between ToothpickLand and AnimeVille had never been demarcated, people didn't know when they had left one place and entered the other. | |
| Depose - v. to remove a ruler from power | |
| syn. overthrow, uncrown | |
| ant. empower, inaugurate | |
| Due to his unpopular policies, there were radical groups planning to depose the ruler. | |
| Deprecate - v. to disapprove mildy | |
| syn. disfavor, condemn | |
| ant. compliment, laud | |
| My mom always deprecated me when comparing me to others because I lacked a social life. | |
| Deride - v. to make fun of | |
| syn. ridicule, mock | |
| ant. praise, laud | |
| It's not nice to deride the weird looking guy in class, even if he has a polka-dotted tail. | |
| Derivative - adj. copied or adapted from others | |
| syn. imitative, plagiarized | |
| ant. new, original | |
| Though she was a pop singing sensation, she only sang derivative music, not true originals. | |
| Derogatory - adj. scornful, disparaging | |
| syn. downgrading, belittling | |
| ant. appreciative, approving | |
| Those derogatory comments lowered my self-esteem and would scar me for life. | |
| Descry - v. to catch sight of something hard to see | |
| syn. contemplate, spot | |
| ant. disregard, ignore | |
| In the dark, it was hard to descry the pile of needles I later stepped on. | |
| Desecrate - v. to profane something sacred or very special | |
| syn. defile | |
| ant. consecrate | |
| That homeless man desecrated the new church when he decided to urinate on the wall. | |
| Desiccate - v. to dry out thoroughly | |
| syn. anhydrate, dehydrate, parch | |
| ant. moisten, wet | |
| As we made passionate love in front of the fireplace, the heat from the flames desiccated our wet clothes and made them dry. | |
| Despot - n. ruler with total control | |
| syn. tyrant, autocrat | |
| ant. anarchist | |
| No one's left to challenge the total power that that despot holds. | |
| Destitute - adj. lacking resources | |
| syn. impoverished, depleted | |
| ant. prosperous, rich | |
| Destitute Third-World countries often need aid to feed its population. | |
| Desultory - adj. in a random fashion | |
| syn. unplanned, haphazard | |
| ant. expected, planned | |
| Out of the blue, those two decided to take a desultory trip to Las Vegas. | |
| Deter - v. discourage | |
| syn. daunt, divert | |
| ant. encourage, persuade | |
| His big acne problem would deter most girls from asking him out on a date. | |
| Detrimental - adj. definitely harmful | |
| syn. damaging, pernicious | |
| ant. helpful, healing | |
| Eating chocolate covered cheesecake is extremely detrimental to my plan for losing weight. | |
| Diatribe - n. bitter/critical speech or writing | |
| syn. abuse, onslaught | |
| ant. praise | |
| Every newspaper carries at least a few diatribes pointing out the errors of presidents. | |
| Dichotomy - n. division into 2 usually contradictory parts | |
| syn. split, schism | |
| ant. union | |
| The dichotomy of Plato and Aristotle began when Aristotle started a rival philosophy school. | |
| Didactic - adj. designed to teach | |
| syn. moral, pedantic, instructive | |
| ant. uninstructional | |
| The teacher crammed her room full of didactic materials in order to better instruct students. | |
| Diffident - adj. lacking confidence | |
| syn. hesitant, unassertive, shy | |
| ant. aggressive, energetic, having high self-esteem | |
| Bullies usually pick on the diffident students who are hesitant to fight back. | |
| Digress - v. to wander off course in speaking or writing | |
| syn. drift, get sidetracked | |
| ant. proceed, progress | |
| It was obvious that the student digressed because his paper on the evolution of man ended with a discussion about his favorite supermodel. | |
| Dilate - v. to increase the width of | |
| syn. amplify, augment | |
| ant. constrict, contract | |
| The Roman Empire grew and dilated to cover nearly all of Europe and Asia. | |
| Dilatory - adj. procrastinating | |
| syn. delaying, laggard | |
| ant. diligent, prompt | |
| The dilatory student didn't start studying until the class period before the test. | |
| Dilettante - adj. lacking seriousness, not skilled | |
| syn. light-hearted, worry free, amateur | |
| ant. serious, professional | |
| I prefer a sandwich made by a skilled chef rather than a dilettante beginner. | |
| Diligent - adj. showing painstaking care and attention | |
| syn. meticulous, attentive | |
| ant. lazy, sloppy | |
| That diligent nerd worked on his science project for 5 straight weeks, making sure everything was perfect. | |
| Disavow - v. to refuse to recognize | |
| syn. repudiate, reject | |
| ant. accept, allow | |
| Though she was a basketball legend, the Hall of Fame disavowed her because of her criminal record. | |
| Discerning - adj. showing wisdom and wise judgement | |
| syn. astute, brilliant | |
| ant. negligent, unperceptive | |
| The discerning detective quickly saw through the suspect's alibi. | |
| Disconcerting - adj. upsetting | |
| syn. distressing, disturbing | |
| ant. calming, soothing | |
| The sudden and disconcerting suicide of their pet hamster left them upset for weeks. | |
| Discriminate - v. to notice differences | |
| syn. distinguish, differentiate | |
| ant. randomly choose | |
| The twins looked so much alike that it was nearly impossible to discriminate the 2 of them. | |
| Disdain - n. snooty disapproval or dislike | |
| syn. scorn, contempt | |
| ant. admiration, respect | |
| That professional ping-pong player stared at me with disdain after I beat him on my first try as an amateur. | |
| Disingenuous - adj. not straightforward or candid | |
| syn. crafty, cunning, deceitful | |
| ant. honest, ingenuous | |
| My cheating and disingenuous girlfriend slept with 3 other guys without telling me. | |
| Disparage - v. to belittle or downgrade | |
| syn. decry, depreciate | |
| ant. praise, laud | |
| AFter 2 world wars during his term, it's easy to disparage our president's attempts at peace. | |
| Disparity - n. difference in type, quality, or quantity | |
| syn. distinction, variation | |
| ant. consistency, equality | |
| The disparity in skill level between us playground basketball players and NBA stars is huge. | |
| Dispassionate - adj. not affected by strong feeling | |
| syn. fair, unbiased | |
| ant. subjective, unfair | |
| Devoid of emotion, the evil, dispassionate teacher gave the tired and half-dead students lots of homework over summer vacation because he was ordered to. | |
| Disperse - v. to spread all over | |
| syn. disseminate, scatter in random way | |
| ant. congregate, assemble | |
| Everytime I'd turn on the lights, all the cockroaches would disperse in all directions. | |
| Disputatious - adj. inclined to dispute or disagree | |
| syn. contentious, quarrelsome | |
| ant. agreeable, tranquil | |
| It's hard to get along and not fight with someone as disputatious as she. | |
| Disseminate - v. to disperse or spread everywhere | |
| syn. scatter, circulate | |
| ant. gather, collect | |
| One time, someone disseminated candy pieces randomly all over the floor and called it art. | |
| Dissension - n. arguments | |
| syn. fighting, altercations | |
| ant. accord, agreement | |
| What began as a dissension over what to buy led to a fight that threatened their relationship. | |
| Ditty - n. a simple song | |
| syn. ballad, carol | |
| ant. (none) | |
| To show his love, he wrote a short musical ditty expressing his affection for her. | |
| Dour - adj. silently ill-humored | |
| syn. gloomy, sad | |
| ant. happy, cheerful | |
| My friend's dour attitude ruined what could have been a joyous day of playing basketball. | |
| Dovish - adj. peaceful | |
| syn. tranquil | |
| ant. loud, clamorous | |
| That dovish man usually stays quiet and would never even hurt a fly. | |
| Dubious - adj. of questionable truth or quality | |
| syn. doubtful, suspicious | |
| ant. truthful, innocent, authentic | |
| That dubious character, with her doubtful alibi, had been the top suspect the entire time. | |
| Duplicity - n. deceptiveness | |
| syn. deception, beguilement | |
| ant. candidness, truthfulness | |
| I don't know if I can trust someone with as much duplicity as he. | |
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© Raymond Ma 2004